WASHINGTON – As the April 17 tax filing deadline approaches, the Internal Revenue Service is reminding the nearly 40 million taxpayers who have yet to file their tax returns that there are a variety of options to help them in the final days of the tax filing season. IRS tax help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on IRS.gov. The busiest part of tax season begins this week, with millions of people planning to file. Through April 6, the IRS has processed more than 101 million tax returns and issued more than 79.1 million tax refunds totaling $226.6 billion. The average refund to date is $2,864.

Additional filing season numbers:

The IRS expects to receive about 14.9 million individual income tax returns for the week ending April 13, with about 13.1 million filed electronically.

On top of those 14.9 million tax returns, the IRS expects to receive another 17 million tax returns the following week.

Requests for extension are anticipated to exceed 11.6 million by next week, with the vast majority of those Forms 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, being filed electronically. Overall, this year, the IRS expects to receive more than 14 million extension requests from taxpayers.

Get an extension

The IRS offers the extra time to file, automatically, to all taxpayers requesting it. A filing extension allows taxpayers until Oct. 15 to gather, prepare and file their taxes with the IRS. However, it does not extend the time to pay any tax due.Taxpayers can get an extension by paying all or part of their estimated income tax due and indicate that the payment is for an extension. If mailing a Form 4868, the form must be mailed to the IRS with a postmark on or before April 17.

Make a payment

When paying taxes this year keep in mind:

Electronic payment options are the quickest and easiest way to make a tax payment.

Taxpayers can choose to pay with a credit or debit card although the company that processes the payment will charge a processing fee.

Taxpayers may also enroll in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System and have a choice of using the internet or phone by using the EFTPS Voice Response System.

Never send cash by mail. Taxpayers can make a cash payment without the need of a bank account or credit card at more than 7,000 7-Eleven stores nationwide IRS.gov/paywithcash.

Taxpayers can go to IRS.gov/account to securely access information about their federal tax account. They can view the amount they owe, access their tax records online, review the past 18 months of payment history, and view key tax return information for the most recent tax return as originally filed.